China has reduced its diplomatic relations with Lithuania to below the level of ambassador due to the Taiwan dispute

Photo by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Twitter

China’s earlier expulsion of the Lithuanian ambassador reflects China’s high sensitivity to Taiwan’s status, and Beijing claims that Taiwan has no right to handle foreign affairs. China also withdrew its ambassador from Lithuania.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the relationship between the two countries will be reduced to the level of charge d’affaires, and he will be the second official of the embassy.

Lithuania’s move reflects the government’s growing interest in expanding relations with Taiwan, a major trader and high-tech industrial center, at a time when Beijing has angered neighboring countries and Western governments with increasingly tough foreign and military policies.

Since the civil war in 1949, Taiwan and the mainland have been ruled separately.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Lithuania of “damaging China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” It called on the Lithuanian government to “immediately correct mistakes.”

Beijing refuses to establish formal relations with governments that recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state. It persuaded all countries except 15 countries, most of them small and poor countries in Africa and Latin America, to recognize the continent instead.

Many governments, including the United States and Japan, have formal diplomatic relations with Beijing, while maintaining extensive commercial ties with Taiwan. Many people maintain relationships with the island’s elected government through trade offices that act as informal embassies.

Lithuania broke its diplomatic practice and agreed that the Taiwan office in Vilnius would use the name of Taiwan instead of Chinese Taipei, a name used by other countries to avoid offending Beijing.

Lithuania said earlier that it plans to open its own representative office in Taiwan.